The serious case review (SCR), commissioned by Bradford safeguarding children board (BSCB), concluded that while social services missed signs that, had they been put together, could have warned that Hamzah and his seven siblings were at risk, his death was "not predictable". That appears to have not gone far enough for the DfE.

In a letter to Nick Frost, chair of BSCB, Edward Timpson, the minister for children and families, wrote: "I am concerned that it [the SCR] fails to explain sufficiently clearly the actions taken, or not taken, by children's social care when problems in the Khan family were brought to their attention on a number of occasions."

The letter sets out a number of questions, which Timpson says relate to "missed opportunities to protect the children in the house".

He continues: "It is tragic beyond words that by the time a health visitor did trigger concerns about the whereabouts of the younger children in the household, who were missing from health and education services altogether, Hamzah Khan was already dead."

Frost said in a statement: "The SCR is very clear that Hamzah's death could not have been predicted but finds that systems, many of them national systems, let Hamzah down both before and following his death."

The DfE's criticism provoked an angry response at Bradford council, with a source claiming that the education secretary, Michael Gove, had initially been ready to accept the SCR's findings.

The source said: "Forty-eight hours ago all the indications were that the DfE were going to accept the report but Gove appears to have had a change of heart."

The council accused the education secretary of changing his mind because there was "not enough social worker bashing". It is understood Gove thinks there has been a failure of all agencies in Bradford to accept any responsibility.

The authors of the SCR make 50 recommendations for "learning", which have been accepted by BSCB without blaming any one agency for failing Hamzah. The panel found that the agencies focused their efforts on Hutton as a victim of domestic violence, rather than her children. The experts report that while much help was offered to Hamzah's mother, who was beaten up by her partner for much of their 22-year relationship, not enough focus was put on whether her children were safe and well.

Annie Hudson, chief executive of the College of Social Work, said the SCR "brings into sharp focus why there must be strong, joined-up and effective systems in place to keep in contact with, and track, children at risk.

"No child should ever fall off the radar or become invisible to child protection agencies and society as a whole."

The NSPCC said it highlighted the need for a red flag when children miss key appointments so youngsters such as Hamzah do not "slip off the radar of society".